Monday, June 21, 2010

I've Got Yellow Dust :(

As the title of the post says, I've got Yellow Dust. What is Yellow Dust you ask? Well, Yellow Dust is a mixture of sand/dust from the Gobi Desert and pollution from Chinese factories. After it mixes, it hops onto a jet stream and travels for a bit. When it's done, it settles over Korea and Japan; where it makes people sick.

Luiz had Yellow Dust last week and now I have it. It's not life threatening or anything (at least not for us) but, it's annoying. For healthy people, it can produce cold/flu-like symptoms. So, I am stuffy and sneezing with a sore throat and a fever. Luiz had a variation on it where he was coughing instead of sneezing and he also had chest congestion.

In March, during the last Yellow Dust outbreak, one of my students, Julia, was absent for three weeks. When she came back, I asked her where she had been. She told me "I was in the hospital!" I then asked her why. She said that she has severe asthma and the Yellow Dust was so thick, she was having very bad asthma attacks. The doctors feared that she might die during an attack so, she was hospitalized during the Yellow Dust outbreak as a preventative measure. So, for people with respiratory problems, Yellow Dust can be very dangerous.

I didn't take any pictures of the current Yellow Dust storm so, I stole some pictures from the internet. I'll try to take some pictures the next time it happens.

Yellow Dust coming from China to the Korean Peninsula



Yellow Dust Over a City


City With Yellow Dust and On A Clear Day

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Our First Visitors!

We recently had our first visitors. My mom and Aunt Rosa came and stayed for almost 2 weeks. It was a fun visit. They arrived on Thursday, May 27 and they left on Tuesday, June 8. During that time, they were able to see three of the biggest cities and to take a day trip from Daejeon.

Here are some pictures from their visit.

With a palace soldier at Gyeongbok (경 복궁) Palace in Seoul.


In the park at City Hall in Daejeon


At the Folk Village in Suwon City (The Day Trip from Daejeon)


Hiking at Mt. Gyeryong


Having Korean Barbecue for the First Time


At the Aquarium in Busan


At the Sand Festival on Hyundae Beach in Busan


Now that you've seen what a trip to Korea is like, go and book your trip!